Bristol Boy Receives Confidence-boosting Horsemanship Course

The general expectation of a nine-year-old boy might be that of a child playing with friends, without a care in the world. He wouldn't know terms like stress and anxiety, never mind be suffering from them severely. However, that has been the experience of Ashley from Bristol, who has been facing significant challenges in his mental health and emotional wellbeing at such a young age. His decline and withdrawing from school and society was so marked that he was nominated for a Primrose Awardand a special Therapeutic Horsemanship course with local organisation Small Strides. The 12 week, Equine Assisted Learning and Activities (EAL&A) Programme has proven so successful with other participants, that the CiaO Foundation was only too happy to provide assistance.

Great Victory for Primrose Award Recipient & His Team

Congratulations to Primrose Award recipient Jamie Stead and the rest of his brilliant Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby team for their recent historic win. They beat Sweden 49 – 41 in the IWRF European Championships, winning the gold medal for an amazing 6th time.

Jamie featured in our news only recently, as he was one of the latest nominations to receive a Primrose Award. In conjunction with the Matt Hampson Foundation, we provided Jamie with a brand new Rugby Wheelchair to replace his previous chair that broke whilst competing. The new chair allowed him the opportunity to play, train and compete in the 2017 European Championships, which he did and with such great success.

With this tournament win, Jamie and the team have automatically qualified for theWorld Championships, being held in Sydney, Australia in 2018.

We wish him and the rest of the squad all the very best for their training and this next amazing challenge.​

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